Temple
by LoricFool
Summary: The nanite event changed the world. On the independent Kamino military base, the special ops "Jedi" are facing the prospect of new technology. What happens when everything blows up in their faces, literally? Five years later, Temple and Global Republic are working together to keep Earth safe from EVO threats. At some point, their paths must cross with Providence
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Yoooo so here's another one. A little experiment that I might continue, maybe not. I really need to get onto my other fics because I have severely neglected them, my poor babies. Soo, enjoy?

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. Disney and Man of Action do.

* * *

Ten months after the nanite event:

"General Kenobi, General Windu! I've made a breakthrough with the crystal. Artoo is just piecing it together. Care to watch the creation of the most powerful sword in this day and age, designed by yours truly?"

"Skywalker, if this is like the last two times you've-"

"This is different. It won't self-destruct this time!" The engineer pleaded with the older, darker general, cutting off the criticism. He turned to face the other man, setting imploring eyes on him. "Obi-Wan, this is what we've been waiting for. All the theory's sound."

General Kenobi sighed, a slight smirk tugging at his mouth in amusement at the younger man's eager confidence and pride. He considered him for a moment, resting a hand on his beard in thought before sighing again with good-natured tolerance.

"Fine, Anakin, but if it does explode, you're paying for the cleanup." General Windu trailed the pair as Anakin led his superiors through the lab to his work station.

The kid was only an engineer by hobby; yet he still seemed to spend more time at it than those paid to do the same job. As a special forces commander he was approaching a promotion to general, and had worked hard under the eye of Kenobi to achieve his position. His engineering skill had allowed him to create a unique variant on the astromech droids around the Temple and base, giving the little blue can a personality and initiating a friendship with the bot.

On top of that, he'd pieced together a 'protocol' droid as a kid, a metallic butler with a hilariously pessimistic attitude and a lot of knowledge. He'd transferred to Temple from Abyssus five months before the nanite event. If he hadn't been at Temple when the event occurred, his colleagues would have genuinely suspected his involvement in the explosion that changed the world.

The rest of the labs were silent and dark, their occupants gone home for the day. Or perhaps not yet arrived, as the lightening sky outside the occasional window seemed to suggest. The barracks beside the lab would be coming alive, the other generals and commanders stirring to begin the day early and attend the scheduled council meeting.

Temple and the whole Kamino base had been supported and was considered a part of Global Republic, a large corporation focussed on achieving world peace and the safety of all those under its protection. The CEO, Sheev Palpatine, was the Defence Secretary in the Federal Government, but his intentions for Presidency were well-known. While claiming the institution, Kamino still withholds a strong self-governing system and council of the senior special agents, nicknamed 'Jedi', maintains the majority of the influence in the facility.

Artoo, Anakin's astromech droid, whistled a low greeting as he sat by the discarded chunks of metal and wiring. A small metal tube lay on the workbench adjacent. A few components lay about around it, the top still open and obviously not fully assembled. General Windu adopted a weary pose, standing a distance away with his arms crossed, yet still paying the situation all his attention. General Kenobi stood beside Anakin as he picked up the bits and bobs and examined them.

"Is the door closed?" Anakin asked while slotting the pieces together inside the cylinder. Mace Windu just raised an eyebrow when Anakin glanced over his shoulder to check "Don't worry, it's just a precaution. In case something goes boom, it'll be localised. But it won't, I'm sure of it." Windu remained skeptical.

General Kenobi took a deep breath and held up Anakin's contraption. It looked nothing like the sword that he claimed it was, and while he was fully confident of Anakin's skill level, he was distrustful of his immature way of rushing headlong into things without taking the proper precautions. He handed the hilt back to his apprentice.

"Here goes," Anakin said with a grin as he pushed the button on the side of the tube. A flash of blue shot out the end of it for less than a second then disappeared at the same moment Anakin gave a yelp and dropped the weapon. On impact with the floor, the thing exploded in a massive pulse of energy that tore straight through the reinforced walls and threw the occupants of the room into the shredded walls.

The twisted, blackened hilt sat in the middle of a small crater, the internal wires tangled around a blue tinged crystal.


	2. Chapter 2

_A view of rubble and smoke dotted with emergency workers comes into focus. The camera zooms out to reveal a woman in a red shirt holding a microphone._ "An explosion at the primary weapons and research facility in the Kamino military base has left at least five dead and twenty five injured. Only hours ago the impressive structure of the Temple stood behind me, now only a smouldering ruin. The source of the explosion has been revealed to be a rare and mysterious Kaiburr crystal, a stone of untapped power, that left all life in a mile radius in an unstable state." _The camera zooms in again and pans across the decimated landscape._

"Sources say that the blast created a pulse that interfered with the local nanites, but officials on the scene refuse to comment. We may be on the verge of witnessing another event the size of Kiev. We have yet to see any of these monsters at the base. This is Diane Farrah, reporting for Ultimate Exposure."


	3. Chapter 3

Coming awake blinking up at the pale ceiling, the first thing Anakin felt was a painful not-feeling in his right hand and arm. Then gradually came the awareness of the rest of his body. He felt like he'd been hit by a truck. Squinting against the harsh lights, he tried to call out past his parched throat. A series of coughs wracked his lungs, and his brain started to return proper thought process.

The lab… the saber. It had worked, if only for a second. And then everything had gone to hell. Were Obi Wan and General Windu safe? He had no idea. There was a curtain drawn around his bed, giving him privacy but also hiding the room. It was enough for Anakin to recognise the Kamino base medical facility though.

Anakin tried to sit up, pausing to finally investigate the aching emptiness of his right arm. For a while he stared blankly at the stump and empty space where it should have been, flexing imaginary fingers.

Lying back down he tried calling out again. He felt more than saw a doctor approach and pull aside the curtain, providing a brief view of other curtained off beds. Finally finding himself in control of his vocal chords, Anakin groaned, "the Generals? Obi Wan and Windu? Are they-?" He broke off into coughs.

"Both Generals are alive and recovering in a stable state. All three of you are incredibly lucky to have survived. I'll have a nurse bring you water. You inhaled a lot of dust after the explosion. Do you remember much of what happened?" She seemed nice enough, with a soft round face and blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"It worked, but then it didn't. It blew up. That's all. Now everything hurts." Anakin recounted with a frown and a wince. A nurse arrived with a glass of water. Anakin took it from him, gulping down the liquid with fervor to soothe his raw throat.

"It's not surprising you're sore. Your body is almost entirely covered in bruises. You were found, like the Generals, against the wall of the lab and under a lot of its ceiling. Your arm was crushed, the safest option was to amputate… I'm sorry. However, with technology advancements since the Event, your prosthetic replacement shouldn't inconvenience you at all. And I'm sure that an engineer with your.. reputation… should be able to fix any problems in such a thing." The doctor gave a wry smile before nodding meaningfully, back to business. "Rest now. You need it." With that, she turned and left, pulling the curtain closed behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

Anakin relaxed his head back against the pillow, staring up again at the ceiling of the infirmary. His mind went blank, with his eyes frozen open still gazing into the ceiling. He stretched out his senses, just listening to the life and movement in the room around him. None of it sounded or… felt… urgent, which reassured him that if Generals Kenobi and Windu were here, they were in fact alright.

He frowned, focussing on that new feeling, new sense. Maybe it was his imagination; after all, he'd taken a bit of a beating. He tried the same thing again, reaching out and broadening his awareness of the space around him. He closed his eyes and frowned harder. The feeling was still there.

He was almost certain he could point to the people walking around around his bed, even with the curtains pulled around. There was something else, too. Like he could almost guess how each person was feeling. But that was crazy, wasn't it?

He had a sudden need to pull back the curtain, to be able to see the people passing, to prove that his imagination was playing games with him. Maybe one of the drugs they were giving him through the IV was messing with his head. Anakin rubbed at his eyes with his left hand and blinked a few times.

There was a little bit of painful movement that the cast allowed for his shoulder. Taking advantage of that, Anakin grit his teeth and balanced himself on the edge of the bed. He reached out his intact arm, fingertips only a hairsbreadth from the fabric. He started flapping his hand back and forth, trying to sway the curtain with the air he was disturbing.

There was apparently no need. At the first wave, the curtain fluttered back along the rails about a foot. Anakin started in surprise and nearly fell off the bed, but caught himself with his stump. He let out a groan of pain, trying to regain his breath.

He collapsed back onto the pillows, rolling his head to the side to try to see who had pulled the curtain back. There was no one there. Still slightly winded from the jolt of pain, Anakin just stared at the space beside his bed, uncomprehending.

When his breathing evened out again and the pain had mostly subsided, he reached out with his hand again, this time still lying fully in bed. He gave a half-hearted attempt at waving the curtain back again, his fingers a good foot away from the fabric. Nothing happened. Anakin sighed. He was going crazy.

He jumped out of his skin when a couple of seconds later the curtain moved back so it was only concealing half of the room, apparently of its own accord. The nurse stepped out from behind it this time though, and he gave him an apologetic smile when he saw his quickly concealed shock.

"Sorry. I should have made some sort of noise as I was coming up, I guess. I've got you a little bit of food, I don't know if you're ready to eat yet. Nora - she's your doctor, Dr Sergeant - she's with General Windu at the moment. General Kenobi is already awake, he's in the bed over there," he pointed to the curtained area diagonal to Anakin. "I'm Josh, by the way. I'll just put this down here, you can help yourself. Um, would you like me to leave the curtain open?"

"Yes, thanks. Is there any way I can see General Kenobi?" The nurse bit his lip and glanced around briefly.

"I don't think so just yet. I'll talk to Nora once she's finished with Windu and see what she can do, okay?"

"Is there any way I could get my plans from my workshop, so I have something to do?" By Josh's wince as he was speaking, Anakin concluded there wasn't much left of his workshop or his plans.

"They, uh, they rescued everything they could, but really there wasn't much left. I'll see what I can find though," he gave Anakin a smile before walking away.

Anakin groaned again. His eyes landed on the tray of food the nurse had brought. He'd been thoughtful enough to include a glass of water with it, and Anakin gulped it down gratefully. He eyed the ham, cheese and tomato sandwich sitting beside a small apple. A small bowl of salad sat beside it, a plastic container of dressing accompanying it.

Temporarily distracted, Anakin reached out as he normally would with his right hand, and smacked the table with the cast. The apple, the only unstable item, bounced a little then started rolling for the edge. With the empty glass in his only hand, it was pure reflex that had Anakin shooting out his right arm in an attempt to catch the apple. In no way able to catch the apple, and in no way long enough to reach it, it should have been futile.

But the apple stopped, like it had been caught. Like if Anakin had had his hand, he would have caught it. His mind was frozen, and likewise the apple was suspended totally still in midair. A few seconds later, his brain whirred into overdrive. Trying to ignore the rush of thoughts, Anakin kept his focus on that one point, on the apple. Slowly he moved his non-hand back up to the table, and the apple followed along accordingly. He put it down somewhat clumsily, but it rolled onto it's bottom and rocked to a stop.

Time to put the glass down and make sure it contained water and not something stronger, and then to check for head injuries. When nothing presented itself as the immediate cause of an hallucination, Anakin elevated the bed head into a half-sitting position so he could more easily look around without getting tired. He first looked out at the people in the ward, but no one seemed to have noticed anything strange.

His doubt of the entire event occurring was solidifying, until Dr Sergeant - really, it was an unfortunately confusing name for a medic on a military base - appeared with a frown on her face as she studied a small screen. She looked up as she reached Anakin's bedside.

"Is everything alright?" She started, her eyes scanning Anakin's face.

"Yeah, I think so?" he replied. Her eyes flashed back down to her screen.

"There were a few strange readings in your vitals just a couple of minutes ago. It was showing up readings we could expect of someone going into shock, but you're here and you look fine," she started slowly, still frowning at the confusing data.

Anakin made a noise to indicate he didn't know what was wrong. Nora looked back at him and gave him a convincing reassuring smile, except for the fact that Anakin could _feel_ her interest and concern.

"Alright. Well, if you notice anything strange, anything at all, just push the panic button. You've had an amputation, your body could be reacting in all sorts of ways. And, do try to get some rest." She started to turn away, but Anakin stopped her.

"Is there any way I can see General Kenobi?"

"Sorry, not for the moment. I want you both to get some rest. Maybe tomorrow." With that, she left, once again pulling the curtain closed behind her.

Anakin was left on his own, contemplating the recent experiences that may or may not have been a product of his imagination. He closed his eyes and tried to extend his senses, identifying people in the ward. He knew the relative direction of Obi-Wan, and he strained his ears and mind alike, hoping that maybe if it hadn't been a mind trick he might be able to detect his friend/General's presence.

It worked. Better than Anakin expected, and as he located the General, something reached out to meet his prying. He jerked back, both physically and mentally, then tentatively reached out again. This time when he encountered the other presence, he didn't pull back but explored it, finding it somewhat familiar. It felt almost as though it were trying to convey a message of some sort, but Anakin couldn't make it out.

Anakin's awareness was suddenly brought back to himself as his body took a deep gasp of air. He hadn't realised he'd been holding his breath. Back in bed, he leaned back into the pillows, suddenly exhausted. The doctor's advice sounded pretty good right now.

Halfway to sleep, he smirked a bit at a stray thought. _They said I was smart, but I don't think they ever thought I could have enough brainpower to hear thoughts and move things._


	5. Chapter 5

"...It wasn't something I even considered checking, before. We've not really had those kinds of problems here before. But now, I'm getting some very interesting information. I can't be one hundred percent certain what some of the readings mean, we'd  
need an expert in nanotechnoloy and biology for that. But from what I can see, and from the first of the samples that I've received, this seems to be a specific code that has affected all the relevant individuals. From what I've observed, there appears  
to have been more interference the further the signal reached, which is why those people further away from the blast were more adversely affected than those at the centre of it." Anakin woke slowly to the quiet sounds of Dr Sergeant conversing  
with someone beyond the barrier of his bed curtain. It must have been a phone call, because he could only hear half the conversation.

"Yes. I have consolidated all the results with Harper, Tam, Saunders and Keller. Their patients have been isolated to restricted access areas. All of the casualties have expressed the same common baseline readings, despite the physiological changes.  
Topher's monitoring cognitive functions with Halverson, and none of the Generals are showing any signs of mental instability. When they're conscious they are displaying the same behaviours they were before the blast." As his mind started working  
at normal speeds, he began to process the information. 'The blast.' Surely they weren't talking about the thing with the lightsaber? He tried to pull himself into a sitting position and had to remind himself he had only one arm. Once managed, he leaned  
forward to try to hear the conversation better, almost hoping to hear the other end of the call.

"Dr Fell is supposed to arrive this afternoon. He should be able to clarify some of the data we've collected. Maybe he'll have some ideas as to why the blast only left a common strand in the human victims, and why the fauna affected have expressed  
such random molecular changes."

"..."

"No, we're not going to get Providence involved. This is something we need to keep under wraps. Until the population can be persuaded that those affected by the nanites aren't all monsters, our highest priority is looking after our patients and making  
sure they have an easy recovery and an accepting environment when they return to their stations."

"..."

"We'll have to monitor them for any changes for the next few weeks, perhaps months, just to make sure that nothing further manifests. Have the 212th contained all the affected fauna in the vacinity yet?"

"..."

"Great. We'll need to set up some temporary accomodations for the Generals; many of them are a day or two away from fully recovered and the new quarters are nowhere near finished."

"..."

"Thanks. I'll get Keller to cover for me while Fell's here. Thanks, Adelle." There was a sigh as the call ended with a beep, a pause, then a dial tone just reached Anakin's ears.

"Hey Vincent. Yeah, it's pretty quiet at my end. How are yours going? Great. In that case, do you reckon you could cover my station this afternoon? Dr Fell's coming today. Yeah, Josh can help you out too, he's not far off his doctor's degree. Thanks  
a lot, I appreciate it. I owe you one." She chuckled a bit in response to something the other person said, then said her goodbyes and ended the call. She was exhausted, Anakin could sense it.

All the same, when she pushed back the curtain around his bed, she was wearing a pleasant smile.

"Hi. You're awake, obviously. Sorry if I disturbed you out there. By the way, this afternoon if you need a doctor, Dr Keller will be on duty around here instead of me. Josh will still be around to get you anything you need." Her eyes scanned  
his form, flicking down to the stump of his right arm with an expression of sympathy.

"Have you noticed anything strange?" She started tentatively. "Like extra senses or anything? Like being able to tell where people are when you can't see them, or knowing what people are feeling?" Her eyes were penetrating, and surely  
they picked up on the tightness in Anakin's shouders and his sudden stillness as he listened to her. He was close to denying it, out of some bizarre, alien feeling of being threatened when the information was out there. But he sensed nothing dishonest  
from the doctor.

So he met her eyes. They were full of curiosity and determination.

"Yeah, something like that." He paused for a while. "How did you know?"

"Some of the other Generals have expressed a similar talent, most notably General Plo Koon."

"...General Koon? I thought it was just the three of us hit by the blast. How many people were injured? What happened?" Anakin demanded with dawning horror. There it was again, the sympathy. So long as it wasn't pity, Anakin didn't care.

"Everyone within about a mile of the explosion was knocked unconscious, but none were seriously injured. However, the blast seems to have disturbed the nanites already present in all of your systems." Nora paused as she saw her patient's expression  
of horrified understanding. He was an engineer who'd worked at Abyssus prior to it's destruction. He knew what the nanites could do. Hell, everyone knew. If you watched the news, you couldn't miss it. Monsters manifesting out of people and animals  
alike as the nanites rewrite and alter the DNA.

"No. Nononono," he moaned, distraught. He moved to put both of his hands over his face and sent his shoulder a dirty look. His eyes started darting around, but his focus was internal. Still distressed, he was jumping from one train of thought  
to another.

"You said 'All of your'. Am I part of 'all'?" At the doctor's hesistated nod, he followed up with more questions. "And that's why I can sense people? Why I can move things? And all the other generals can do that? But I still look like me,  
right?"

"You can move things?" Nora interrupted quickly, stopping the voiced inner thought processes. Anakin's eyes snapped up to her face.

"No one else has?" he responded in concern. At Nora's cautious denial, he turned his focus to his surroundings and anything there he could use as a demonstration. Upon seeing the phone in Nora's hand, he instructed her to put it down on the  
bed.

Hesitating for a moment, he decided upon trying his remaining hand as the conduit. Focussing on the object, arm outstretched, he mimed picking up the phone. The phone wobbled a bit, rising a couple of inches above the bedspread. Nora's eyes went wide  
as she looked between Anakin and her floating device.

"Well… that's new. I'll have to check with the other generals, but first I need to meet with a nanobiology specialist. I will see again tomorrow, Commander Skywalker," she concluded with a warm smile.


End file.
